Breaking Windows
by angellwings
Summary: Natella. For Jessie. Follow up to "Drunk Dialing." Nate's insecurities about his relationship with Ella leads to another night of drunkenness.


**A/N: **This story is for **Jessie-is-Awesome.** (FFN won't let me do the periods the way she does for some reason.)She asked me to write her a story and here it is! She actually asked for a three shot, but when she told me Drunk!Nate was her favorite of my characterizations I immediately wanted to write more of him. So, I hope that makes up for this not being a three-shot.

Thanks for being an awesome reader!

**Happy reading!**

**angellwings**

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><p>Breaking Windows<p>

By angellwings

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><p>"Hey man!" Shane said as he grabbed Nate's shoulders and shook him playfully. "You made it! I thought you were going to spend the night with Ella?"<p>

"I was," Nate grumbled. "Her mother called. She came over to help her pack. So, now I'm here. At a bar. Alone."

Shane winced. "She leaves tomorrow afternoon right? For where again?"

Nate nodded. "She's taking her mother on a trip to Paris for her birthday. For two and a half weeks."

Shane winced. "Ouch, that's a long time."

"Yes it is," Nate said as he ran a hand through his hair. "And she won't let me join them until she's broken the news to her mother."

"You mean, the news that her daughter's dating a rockstar who's actually publicly admitted to being a fan of her ex-husband's music?" Shane asked with a smirk. "You mean that news?"

Nate glared at him. "Yes, that's the news I mean. And I only admitted to being a fan of _one_ song. One song that was about _Ella_."

"Yes," Shane said with a nod. "I'm sure that's what Ms. Lo took away from that."

"I'm just tired of fearing what this woman's going to say about myself and Ella. She doesn't really know me and she's never seen Ella and I when we're together so…how can she have an opinion?" Nate asked with a furrowed brow.

Shane sighed and shoved a beer in Nate's hand. "You're dating her baby and you have _some_ similarities to her ex. I'll be shocked if she _doesn't_ have an opinion."

"All I want to do is take my girlfriend out to dinner _in public_, and I can't do that because Ella doesn't want to upset her mother. I can't hold her hand, or sit across from her in a booth when we're all out to dinner, or dance with her or—"

"Dance with her?" Shane asked with a laugh. "You don't dance."

"You know what I mean," Nate said with a huff.

"Drink the beer, man," Shane said as he clinked his bottle against Nate's. "Relax. There's nothing you can do at the moment so just…_chill_. And try to have a little fun."

"Yeah, fat chance of that," Nate mumbled before he took a big swig from the bottle.

Shane led him to the table where the rest of the group was waiting and Caitlyn immediately motioned to a tray of shots in the middle of the table.

"Nater-tot!" She yelled enthusiastically. "I ordered a round of shots for us! Feel free to ta—"

"Okay," Nate said quickly as he grabbed one and tossed it back in one gulp. "Don't mind if I do."

Caitlyn's eyes widened and she gave Nate a strange look. "Um, right. Are you okay?"

He immediately reached for another one and downed it just as fast. He made a rubbery face and shook his head. "Just peachy. And you?"

"I'm—I'm good. You just had two shots," Caitlyn said as she watched him reach for a third. "The last time you had this many shots you left all of us a bazillion voice mails. Maybe you should slow down?"

"Or," Nate said as he handed her one of the glasses. "Maybe you should catch up."

Caitlyn slowly put the glass down and shook her head. "No thanks, I've already had a couple. I had a head start remember?"

Nate shrugged and picked up the rejected shot. "More for me, I guess."

She watched him drink it and then blinked at him. "Dear God, that's four. Please stop there."

Nate wobbled on his feet a little bit and shook himself alert. "Psh, why? I'm totally fine. Where'd my beer go?"

Caitlyn tapped the top of the bottle that Nate still held in his hand. "You're holding it, Nathaniel."

"Don't call me Nathaniel," Nate said as he blinked groggily. "Only Ella calls me Nathaniel."

"Right, sorry," Caitlyn said. "Won't happen again." Caitlyn held out a hand for his beer. "Maybe I should take that for you."

"No, nope. I'm good," Nate said as he jerked his hand away. A bit of beer spilled out the top of the bottle and Nate stared at it sadly. "Well, that's a waste of good alcohol. What time is it?"

Caitlyn ignored the expensive watch on Nate's wrist and humored him by checking her phone. "10:30ish? Why?"

"Just wondering if Ella's mom would have gone home yet. She came over at 9:30. That's late for an old lady, right? I thought people over 39 went to bed at nine?" Nate asked rhetorically. "She's probably gone by now, right?"

"Nate, don't go over there right now," Caitlyn said as she shook her head. "If you do then you'll regret it in the morning."

"Nope, nope," Nate said with a smile. "I should go see her. She leaves tomorrow. Did you know that?"

"Yes, yes I did," Caitlyn said with a sympathetic smile. "I'm driving her and her mother to the airport tomorrow."

"No way!" Nate said in genuine shock. He swayed and Caitlyn immediately reached out to steady him. "You know, I originally offered to do that. But Ella didn't think that would be a good idea."

"Yes, well, considering the situation she's probably right," Caitlyn said with a sigh as she reluctantly removed her hands from Nate's arms.

"_Hell_ no, she's not right! Moms love me. I'm sensible and responsible and I've never kept a girl out past her curfew!" Nate exclaimed as he waved an arm wildly while he spoke.

Caitlyn ducked and smirked at him. "Let's hope you haven't dated a girl with a curfew in a few years, Nate."

"Now, Jason on the other hand…when he was actually _in_ high school he kept dates out past their curfew all the time. Don't know what it is about him but the girls all seem to _love_ him. Even before Connect 3," Nate said thoughtfully. "He's the only one of us that did any dating before Connect 3, actually."

Caitlyn quirked a brow at him. "Oh, really?"

"Yep, he had the girls falling all over him. I think it's his man-boy qualities. The ladies love it and he's too polite to tell them to just get lost," Nate said with a nod. Jason walked by then and Nate quickly grabbed his arm. "Isn't that right, Jase?"

"Isn't what right?" Jason asked as he noticed Nate's drunken state.

"That you're too polite to tell all the girls that are hopelessly in love with you to get lost," Nate repeated.

Jason noticed Caitlyn's critical gaze and gulped nervously. "I—I'm not sure what the correct answer to that is."

"If you're talking about your hoards of fangirls then say yes, Jason," Caitlyn said with a light glare.

Jason cleared his throat and then nodded. "Then yes. Yes times a million."

"I also heard you dated a lot of girls in high school?" Caitlyn asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Not…_a lot_, really_," _Jason said with a gulp. "Wh—who told you that?"

"Your youngest brother," Caitlyn said as she took a step closer to Jason. "Right, Nate? Tell him what you told me."

When no one answered both Caitlyn and Jason turned to where he'd been standing. There was no one there. Caitlyn stood on her tiptoes and glanced around the room while Jason looked back at their booth and then at the bar. "I think he got away while you were interrogating me."

"Damn it, Drunk Nate is a lot stealthier than I expected," Caitlyn cursed with a huff.

"I'll check the restroom and tell security," Jason said with a sigh. "You check the back alley, okay?"

Caitlyn nodded as she and Jason split up to look for Nate.

But they wouldn't find him. He'd already left the bar.

* * *

><p>Ella sighed tiredly and washed her makeup off of her face. Her mother finally left once Ella was finished packing. Ella yawned as she applied her eye cream and moisturizer. She paused when she thought she heard tapping against her window, but she didn't hear anything anymore so she assumed she'd been hearing things.<p>

And then as she was brushing her teeth a loud crash sounded. Ella jumped and nearly yelped at the sound. She immediately ran out into her bedroom and spotted her broken window.

"_What the hell_?" She yelled as she quickly threw on a pair of sneakers and stepped toward the shattered glass on her floor. Her eyes narrowed on a very large rock in the middle of the pile.

"ELLA! IS THAT YOU?"

She froze and her eyes narrowed into a glare. She carefully stepped around the glass and looked out her broken window to the sidewalk below. There was a shadowy outline standing on the pavement but based on the voice and the hair she _knew_ who it was. "Nathaniel, what the hell are you doing here and _why_ did you throw a _rock_ at my window? You have a _damn key_."

"Oh, yeah!" Nate said with a chuckle. "I forgot."

"You forgot that you had a key?"

"Well, all I could think about was all those sappy love stories you like so much and how there seems to be someone throwing pebbles at a girl's window a lot. I thought I would try it. Didn't think about actually going _inside_," Nate said. He was speaking slowly and some of his words were slurring together.

Ella groaned and shook her head. "Are you…_drunk_?"

"Nope!"

"So, you broke my window while sober, then?"

"Nope!"

She rolled her eyes. "You're an idiot."

"WHAT?" He yelled up at her.

"I said, YOU'RE AN IDIOT!"

She heard a window being pulled open forcefully below her and wasn't surprised to hear an unfamiliar voice shouting at them. "Will you two keep it down! I'm trying to sleep here!"

"Sorry!" Ella yelled with a wince. She heard the window slam closed and then continued to glare at Nate. "Get your drunk ass up here, Nathaniel. _Now!_"

"Yep," He said slowly. "On the way. Buzz me up?"

She nodded and muttered to herself as she backed away from the window. "Oh, you're plenty buzzed already."

She buzzed down to the main door and unlocked the security door for him and then started to clean up the glass while she waited for him to get up four flights of stairs. She had the glass swept up and then started to dig around in her closet for a box or a piece of cardboard to tape over her window for the night. She finally found one and duct taped it to her window. There were several bangs from her door that were mixed with the familiar jingle of Nate's keys. Ella sighed and quickly crossed her apartment to open the door for him since he couldn't seem to do it himself.

"Hello!" Nate said brightly. "As an advance apology for any other damage I might cause tonight…I'd like to say: you're beautiful."

Despite being more than a little annoyed with him Ella couldn't help but grin at that. "Why thank you, Nate. Advance apology accepted." She grabbed his arm and led him into the apartment. "Have a seat, Maestro. I'll make you some coffee."

"Oh, coffee. Coffee would be good," Nate said with a nod as Ella sat him down on her couch.

"Yeah, I bet so. You're paying for my window, by the way," Ella said with a chuckle as she went to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee.

Nate spread out on her couch and stretched. "That rock was bigger and heavier than I thought it was."

"You're lucky I'm so in love with you, Nathaniel," Ella said with a grin and a shake of her head. "Or else you'd suffer a very loud lecture about what would have happened had the paps caught you throwing rocks at my window."

"They didn't because I'm magic," Nate said with a grin.

Ella rolled her eyes. "They didn't because you're unbelievably lucky. Being photographed outside my apartment would have ruined our entire plan."

"You mean your entire plan. I didn't have much to do with it," Nate grumbled. He paused before he continued. "Are you sure you love me?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Ella said as she poured two cups of coffee. "Even though you drive me a little crazy sometimes. Are you sure you love me?"

"Yes," Nate answered simply. "Why have you waited so long to tell your mother about us then if we're so in love?"

Ella huffed. "My mother is very intimidating, and she doesn't like rockstars. She needs to be _eased_ into this, Babe. I've told you that."

"I've never met a mother who didn't like me," Nate said with a pout.

Ella rolled her eyes with a good humored grin and she handed Nate his coffee. "Well, there's a first time for everything."

"But I haven't even met her yet. How can she dislike me already?" Nate asked as he slowly sat up and made room for Ella. She set her coffee down and sat down behind him. She wrapped her arms around him from behind and kissed his neck.

"It's not you," Ella told him softly. "It's your occupation."

"I'm a rockstar not a murderer," Nate said with a sigh. "And I don't _have_ to be a rockstar. I could be a producer or an actor or even just a songwriter if I have to be—"

"Oh no you don't. Don't even think about it. You were born to perform, Nate. You love it. You're not giving it up for me and you're certainly not giving it up for _my mother_," Ella told him sternly before she placed another soft kiss on his neck. "I don't want _you_ to change. I want _her_ to change."

"Ella," He said quietly. "You're going away for _two weeks_ because your mother doesn't like me. If that doesn't change are you…going to be gone for _longer_ than that?"

Ella swallowed thickly and felt her eyes water. Nate's tone was so soft and sad. It nearly broke her heart. "I'm not going anywhere. I'll be back in 14 days. No more and no less. I promise."

Ella rested her cheek against his back and took a deep breath. She let silence consume them for a few moments as she listened to his breathing. Nate was slowly starting to sober up. She could feel his muscles tensing and noticed he was taking longer sips of his coffee. She continued to sit there with her arms around him. He finally put his coffee down and then brought his hands to cover hers. He pulled one up to his lips and kissed it softly. "I'm sorry about your window."

Ella chuckled and squeezed his hand. "No worries. Just have it fixed while I'm gone, please? I don't want to be worried about someone breaking into my apartment through a shattered window while I'm in Paris."

"Consider it done," Nate said in that same sad and soft tone from earlier.

"Nate," Ella said gently. "What's wrong?"

"I just don't like that I can't fix this," Nate admitted. "I like being in control and I like…I like…"

"Being Mr. Fix-It?" Ella asked knowingly.

"Yes."

"And I love that about you," Ella told him as she leaned back on the couch and pulled Nate down with her. The back of his head rested on her stomach and she ran her fingers through his curls while she continued to speak. "But you can't fix everything, Nate. Sometimes you're going to have to let me step up and fix things. This is one of those times. Let _me_ take care of this one, and then _you_ can fix my window. I think that's a fair trade off."

Nate closed his eyes and grinned softly. "Yeah, a window for a rockstar hating mother. That's the same."

"Nate, honestly, we'll be even as long as you're here waiting for me when I get back because, trust me, I'm going to _need_ some comfort. Most likely some comfort from my very favorite guy, if that's possible," Ella said as she moved her hands downward to massage his temples.

"I'll tell Jason to clear his schedule 14 days from now," Nate said with a smirk.

Ella laughed and smacked his shoulder. "Don't you dare. You know _exactly_ who I mean."

"Shane?" He asked with a grin.

She rolled her eyes and brought her hands back to his curls. "No, not Shane."

"Oh, you meant me?" He asked as he feigned being clueless. "Never would have guessed."

She laughed lightly and wrapped some curls around her fingers. "Dork."

"Right back at ya, Sparkles," Nate said with a smirk.

Ella pushed Nate upward and sat up. He leaned back on the couch and she wrapped her arms around him and leaned against him. She smiled softly and looked up at him with warm eyes. "I love you, Nate. And whatever happens with my mother that will always be the case."

He smiled affectionately at her and nodded. "I love you too."

"Okay," Ella said as she swung her legs over his lap. "Would you like another coffee? Is your brain still fuzzy?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "My brain is still fuzzy but I don't want another coffee at the moment."

"Why not?" Ella asked.

"Because then you'd have to get up and I'm rather comfortable with you here next to me," Nate told her with an easy smile.

"Oh, you are such a charmer," Ella said with a soft giggle. "If I were a fangirl that line would have had me in a melty puddle on the floor."

He smirked at her. "Ah, but you've grown immune to my charms, is that it?"

"Sometimes, yes," Ella answered with a grin.

"All my charms?" Nate asked as he began to lower his lips to her ear. He continued in a whisper. "Because I'm sure there's _something_ I could do to turn _you_ into that melty puddle. Don't you think?"

Ella shivered as his breath touched her neck and bit back a contented sigh. She wouldn't let him win _this soon_. "Maybe."

He chuckled into her ear and Ella almost groaned at how _masculine_ it sounded. She was not prepared for this kind of game. Nate very lightly kissed the skin just below her ear before he spoke again. "You're a really bad liar. Did you know that?"

"And you're a tease," Ella said with a smirk. "Did _you_ know that?"

"Why, yes, yes I did," Nate said with a laugh. As soon as the words were out of his mouth he began trailing soft delicate kisses along Ella's jawline. "Admit it, Ells. You're a puddle right now, aren't you?"

"You are not winning that easily, Mister," Ella said sternly. She was having an awfully hard time keeping it together. "It's going to take a lot more than that to make a puddle out of me."

Nate chuckled again and Ella _knew_ it was all over.

"Challenge accepted," Nate said in a smug tone.


End file.
